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Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 May 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 June 2019 (named day). It was answered by Chris Skidmore (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 June 2019 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Natural Gas: Prices

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the cost of gas to British consumers relative to the cost to consumers in each of the other member states of the EU.

Answer

The Department is committed to regular and transparent reporting on the price of gas for UK consumers and currently publishes a price comparison with EU member states on a bi-annual basis. The latest statistical reports from this series are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/international-domestic-energy-prices

The UK has some of the lowest domestic gas prices in the EU. Average prices paid by consumers for the period January to June 2018 were the second lowest in the EU15 and were 31 per cent lower than the median average price.

Recent figures also show that gas prices for UK consumers has been consistently cheaper than the median average for all EU member states (EU28) since 2016 currently peaking at 15.5% cheaper in the first half of 2018.

These figures are for average domestic gas prices including taxes paid for by UK domestic consumers, with a consumption level of the EU’s definition of a ‘medium’ amount of gas per annum (5,557 – 55,557 kWh).

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
256957
Session
2017-19
Subjects
EU countries Natural gas Prices
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk